I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying your break. But of course, you probably were also thinking about our class and responding on the blog! Here is a brief summary of our Genocide class from the past rotation:11/14/07: Firstly, we learned about the term “occupy” in terms of an “Occupied Europe” or “Occupied France.” Then, we watched a documentary on “Le Chabon,” a town in France, primarily made up of Heugenaunt descendents, where the citizens rescued and housed 5,500 Jews who fled Germany during the Holocaust. Essentially, the town of Le Chabon was a “hub of resistance,” and an example of effective, non-violent resistance during genocide. We explored the “us-vs.-them” theme, as well as “obedience and conformity” theme. We discussed how this town united together to resist the Holocaust so that “everyone was involved” and people were singing resisters songs even in their Catholic churches. Some students brought up the idea whether there was an unconscious “obedience to resist” among the people of Le Chabon and if by saying “it was a normal thing to do,” and “everybody else was doing it,” others were conforming to their surroundings in order to “fit in.” Nonetheless, learning about Le Chabon served as a hopeful example of a successful resistance during the Holocaust.
11/15/07: For homework, we all read about Bystanders and Rescuers from the blue book, and reflected on the readings in a few response questions that addressed ignorance, the “illusion of not knowing,” “unimaginable horror,” self-sacrifice to believe, and heroes during genocide. We learned about a spectrum of bystanders who either consciously chose not to believe because of the magnitude and impossibilities of genocides, or acknowledged what was happening, and sacrificed their own reputation, nationally pride, family and own lives to defend the truth.
11/16/07: On our Generation’s Day, we were fortunate to have several very wise and eloquent grandparents who joined our class, and even added to the discussion. We watched a documentary called “Closed Doors,” which explored immigration laws and in particular, focused on one Jewish individual who struggled to get visas for his parents to immigrate to America during the Holocaust. Many students were surprised that there were specific laws in the American government that was meant to deliberately postpone visas for Jewish immigrants as long as possible (using lots of excessive requirements to get visas), so that they would essentially never be able to come, and instead be deported to France.
11/20/07: Students wrote an in-class essay on the role of “obedience and conformity” from 1914-1948, during genocide and in pre-genocidal societies. Good job everyone!
11/21~11/23 Thanksgiving break! No classes.
Last Questions to Consider:
How does obedience and conformity play a role in 21st century politics? In everyday life? At Lick?
Immigration is a huge topic in America, especially when it comes to electing presidents or government officials. What sort of advantages and disadvantages would America have if we acted in the same way as the government did towards the Jews (deliberately postponing visas and making unnecessary requirements) towards one or two specific groups? Is it a good or bad thing? If not, what kind of immigration policy should we adapt to improve the situation?
Do you think that disbelief and the “illusion of not knowing” applies to Darfur and other problems that we are facing now around the world? If we can’t force people to open their eyes, what are other ways of getting people active and tolerant? What can we students do individually to help?
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